It widely was believed that Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo would be fired after losing 37 games in three seasons. It wasn’t known whether G.M. Billy Devaney would survive, especially since most General Managers get two bites at the coaching apple before having to bob for a new job.
According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, Devaney won’t have that luxury. Mort reports that both Spagnuolo and Devaney will be fired by Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
A team source was less definitive, telling PFT that the situation could go in any direction. If Mort is right, the direction will include the dissemination of pink slips.

Spagnuolo seems like he could be a good coach in the right situation, but St. Louis was clearly not that situation. His defense was a major disappointment and the team wasn’t competitive most weeks.​

SI’s Peter King pointed out he lost more regular season games in three years than Bill Belichick has in more than a decade in New England.​

The hanging question: Will any other coaches be fired Monday?​

It sounds like Chargers owner Dean Spanos wants to take some time to make his final decision. The Bucs ownership has not moved quickly on changes in the past. The Colts or a possible surprise team is out there.​

For now, four head coaching jobs are vacant: Jacksonville, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Miami. Of those four situations, the Rams have the most promising quarterback and the best draft pick.​

“I would like to personally thank Steve and Billy for their dedication to the St. Louis Rams organization over the past several seasons,” said Rams owner E. Stan Kroenke in a team statement. “This was a difficult decision for many reasons. We have tremendous respect for Steve and Billy as people and football professionals.”​

Unlike Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Miami, the Rams could hire a general manager before finding their next head coach. Or they could hire a head coach that essentially comes with someone who will help pick the players.​

Devaney had his ups and downs in St. Louis, but ultimately he had too many misfires in the draft and free agency.​

The Jaguars are starting to line up head coaching candidates.
Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports that the team asked permission to speak withFalcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey.
The former Bills head coach has a game to prepare for this week, so he may not have a ton of extra time this week. It’s also not guaranteed he’d be interested. Mularkey turned down an interview with the Broncos last year. Mularkey did interview for the Titans job that ultimately went to Mike Munchak.
Mularkey has ties to the team because his son works in the team’s scouting department. Mularkey is the first confirmed interview other than interim head coach Mel Tucker.
Peter King said Sunday night that Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis will be a candidate. Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and former Titans coach Jeff Fisher have been mentioned as possibilities.

Last year, the Buccaneers won 10 games. This year, they finished with 10 straight losses.
And so Raheem Morris, as widely expected, has lost his job.
Per multiple reports, Morris has been fired. He had one year left on his contract.
Unlike Rams G.M. Billy Devaney, who was fired along with coach Steve Spagnuolo, G.M. Mark Dominik is expected to stay. Dominik received a new contract after the season.​

Multiple reports on this Black Monday in the NFL say that Fisher, who coached the Titans from 1995 (when they were the Houston Oilers) until 2010, wants back in the business. And, no surprise, the reports say Fisher wants to coach a team with a stable quarterback situation. (In other words, he doesn’t want another Vince Young.)​

The Jets’ season ended with the offense flailing about unsuccessfully, but that doesn’t seem to have taken much away from Brian Schottenheimer’s prospects of advancement.

Schottenheimer, who has been the Jets’ offensive coordinator for the last six years, will interview for the Jaguars’ head coaching job. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily Newsreports that the interview will happen as early as this week.​

Schottenheimer was criticized heavily in New York this season and it isn’t the first time he’s come under fire for his work with the Jets. Despite that, the team gave him a contract extension through 2013 and Rex Ryan said last week that he expected Schottenheimer to return if he didn’t get a head coaching job.​

The Jaguars have also asked for permission to interview Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey. There will be surely be more names to come in the search for Shahid Khan’s first hire as the team’s new owner, but, for now, it looks like the Jaguars favor an offensive mind for the top job.​

We have our first stunner of Black Monday.
Colts Vice Chairman Bill Polian and his son G.M. Chris Polian are out in Indianapolis, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.
We’ll have more on this story soon. There’s no official word yet on Jim Caldwell.​

If you’re an offensive coordinator in the NFL looking to move up the ladder, you should probably send your resume to the Jaguars.
On the heels of news that the team wants to interview Mike Mularkey of the Falcons and Brian Schottenheimer of the Jets comes word that the Jaguars have asked for permission to interview Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. The word comes via Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer, who says that head coach Ron Rivera confirmed a team asked for permission without specifying which team was doing the asking. Person adds that Rivera said the team would be proactive about keeping Chudzinski, on the right in the picture above, in the fold.
The Panthers set a franchise record for yards this season, Chudzinski’s first with the team, with 6,237 yards. Much of that was due to Cam Newton, of course, but Chudzinski put him in a position to shatter every rookie quarterback record in the book. Chudzinski was with the Chargers as tight end coach in 2009 and 2010 and spent two years running a mediocre Browns offense before that.​

There isn’t a long history of special teams coaches making the leap to head coach, but that isn’t stopping the Dolphins from taking a look at one.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Dolphins have asked the Bears forpermission to interview their special teams coach Dave Toub. Toub’s contract expired at the end of the season, but the Dolphins needed to ask permission because the Bears have a 15-day window of exclusive negotiating rights.​

Bears coach Lovie Smith sounds like he wants to use every one of those days to convince Toub to stick around, although he acknowledges that he can’t offer anything like the chance to run an NFL team.​

“Dave has been here every day that I’ve been here,” Smith said. “So, I think it’s pretty safe to say that I kind of like what he does and he likes it around here. But in the same sense I know that Dave has goals too that he would like to get accomplished. And every coach on our staff, especially coaches who have been on the staff for eight years, you would like to see them take another step. I know one of the things Dave would like to do is someday be a head football coach and hopefully he has that opportunity some day.”​

Toub’s special teams units are routinely rated among the best in football. Devin Hester has had a lot to do with that, but Toub’s shown some inventiveness through the years so it hasn’t just been a case of having the best returner in history falling into the coach’s lap.​

Bills coach Chan Gailey announced at today’s season-ending press conference that he has fired defensive coordinator George Edwards and will replace him by promoting assistant head coach/linebackers coach Dave Wannstedt to the coordinator job.

This was Wannstedt’s first year on the Bills’ staff, following six seasons as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He’s previously been the head coach of the Dolphins and Bears, as well as defensive coordinator of the Dolphins and Cowboys. He has generally been well respected as a coordinator but less than well respected as a head coach.​

Edwards had been the Bills’ defensive coordinator for the last two years. Gailey added that he is currently evaluating the rest of his staff.​

Gailey also addressed the Bills’ personnel, including receiver Stevie Johnson, who was benched on Sunday after picking up a celebration penalty following a touchdown catch. Gailey said he’s open to re-signing Johnson, who will be a free agent, but that he would want to make sure he and Johnson are on the same page. And Gailey defended quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has been criticized because his play declined after he signed a lucrative contract extension during the season. Gailey said he believes that as the team improves, Fitzpatrick’s play will improve.​

When the Polians were shown the door Monday, we guessed that Colts owner Jim Irsay was at least partially choosing Peyton Manning over the team’s front office.
If nothing else, it will make it easier to keep Manning on the roster if that’s what Irsay truly wants to do. And there is no bigger fan of Peyton Manning than Jim Irsay.
Speaking on NBC SportsTalk Monday, Peter King supported this notion.
He’s heard that Irsay views Manning’s future as a “family decision” and not a “football decision.”
So what does that mean?
“It means to me that Jimmy Irsay is going to give Peyton Manning his $28 million bonus unless one of two things happen: Manning absolutely can’t play football or Manning wants out. . . . So I think Irsay has essentially put the onus on himself to make that huge decision.”
It sets up an interesting scenario for the direction of the Colts franchise. Will Irsay only hire a general manager or coach that want to work with Manning? Then again, will many coaches and general managers not want to work with a healthy Manning if Irsay is playing the freight?
Manning’s health has been lost in all the speculation. We truly have no idea if he’ll ever play pro football again. If Manning does play again, Irsay’s “family” approach to the business makes it more likely Manning will remain in Indianapolis.​